Walmart, Microsoft in partnership to use cloud tech

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(Reuters) - Retail giant Walmart Inc (WMT.N) said on Tuesday it entered into a strategic partnership with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) for wider use of cloud and artificial intelligence technology, in a sign of major rivals of Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) coming together.

The five-year agreement will leverage the full range of Microsoft’s cloud solutions, including Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365, to make shopping faster and easier for customers, the Bentonville Arkansas-based company said.

As part of the partnership, Walmart and Microsoft engineers will collaborate to migrate a significant portion of walmart.com and samsclub.com to Azure, Walmart added.

While Walmart is doubling down on its e-commerce presence to better compete with Amazon, Microsoft has been working on a technology that would eliminate cashiers and checkout lines from stores, Reuters reported last month.